Sunday, June 10th rides

Well, after a long hiatus, DH and I did the shop ride with our LBS.
It was spitting rain as we drove to the shop, and skies were looking threatening. But, no rain fell at all during the ride, so that was good.
Mike - the shop owner - lead the "C" ride, but you'd never know it from the pace. He kept it up the whole way, had us doing a paceline on Clara Barton (two of the guys were just all over the place, making me really nervous and one woman just opted to hang on the back and not go up the line. Always a challenge....). I was really hoping to take it easy after yesterday's metric, but <<sigh>> that wasn't going to happen.
30 miles (and a new route for me - one of the guys said it's been changing weekly. OY!) at a record 17.6 mph average.

I'm pooped! 26.8 miles; best estimate is 2,300' of climbing. It's an absolutely gorgeous day here. Beautiful blue skies and just a little breeze. Nice temperature too. Best part was riding through orchard sprinklers that were over-spraying onto the road. Oh, and I inadvertently chased a momma deer with her two cute little fawns. They still had their spots...soooo cute :p

I've discovered a new snack to carry on the bike. Dannon "Danimals Extreme" yogurt smoothies. They're tiny - just 3.1 oz. - so they fit in a jersey pocket. Of course, they don't exactly stay cold, but it's not like they're going to spoil in an hour or two. Best part...70 calories, a little shot protein and sugar, no artificial colors or flavors, and no high fructose corn syrup. And they taste really yummy!

Sara- How dare you chase off baby deer? THat is just mean. :D :D We have been seeing a lot of wild babies lately, I love that about riding this time of year.

DH cleaned the bikes for a little visit to the LBS repairman. I cleaned house while fighting a headache. No riding. My head has hurt for 4 days, ugh!

Today I did my first 50 miler, for the benefit of the American Diabetes Association. Nice weather, good roads, a good route, a good cause, and a well fitting bike...what more could you ask for?

I had a great time chatting with people along the way, just feeling good. Around 35 miles things started to ache and by 40 miles my shoulders were hurting, my thighs were burning, and my girly bits were quite unhappy. You gals who do the distance riding, I don't know how you do it, but more power to you! I pushed through and finished the route: 52 miles in 3' 25" for a 15.2 mph average (total time, 4' 15")

If I'm going to ride another 50 miler and a metric later this year I may need to find some different shorts.

I'm not sure what happened to my teammates; couldn't find them at the start so I took off without them. I know that one dropped out at 25 miles; it was actually her first time on a bike this year so that was pretty good.

My DP was a volunteer photographer so I'll have pictures to post later.

Last year I was the 18th highest fundraiser and rode wearing a special numbered bib. I saw #2 on the route but didn't get the chance to ask him how much he missed #1 by.

I can still collect $$ through the end of the month. Please consider supporting the ADA.

Edit to add: there were various ADA signs posted along the route. There was one that said "10 miles to the massage tables." I'm thinking "oh yeah, I'm all over that!" I get does with the ride to find that there's like an hour wait for massages. I never got one, and my shoulders can tell.

YEsterday, so fab for riding, today, rain -- serious, coastal type rain like we just don't see here in our desert climate too often. I'm not going out to ride.

I will, on the other hand, go to the LBS and buy tubes!

Karen in Boise

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

Sara- How dare you chase off baby deer? THat is just mean. :D :D We have been seeing a lot of wild babies lately, I love that about riding this time of year.

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I definitely felt like a big meanie! ;) But I didn't mean to chase them...really I didn't! They just happened to be there and then they just happened to run away. I was just relieved they ran the way they did...you know how deer can be. Very unpredictable. I always expect them to run right in front of me (like they do when I'm driving my car!).

Aggie Ama - I hope your head feels better!!!!

I did a couple of loops in the farmland and woods of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center/Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge area, starting at the REI in College Park. 40.4 miles on an overcast, cool morning.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MDHillSlug

My DP was a volunteer photographer so I'll have pictures to post later.

Edit to add: there were various ADA signs posted along the route. There was one that said "10 miles to the massage tables." I'm thinking "oh yeah, I'm all over that!" I get does with the ride to find that there's like an hour wait for massages. I never got one, and my shoulders can tell.

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What you need to do, Nicole, is have DP be the volunteer personal masseuse! I'm looking forward to seeing pics, though. Congrats!

DP? Digital photographer?
ADA? Americans with disabilties act?

Enlightenment, please.

[EDIT] I got one, the American Diabetes Association

Today was full of new experiences to tuck under my belt. I hooked up with person I met earlier in the week at a LBS for a quick 40 mile ride to judge how we might work out as training partners, but just a few miles into the ride we were allowed to catch the wheels of two very experienced cyclists in the community as they passed us.

While we (thought) we went out starting strong and were averaging about 18, they pulled up around us at a swift 21-22. At first, I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace and debated on whether to bale out the back and just do the ride with the person I headed out with. But we soon caught a good drafting formation and as soon as it looked like we could continue to hang on they asked us if we wanted to head out to the canyon with them and do a few hills and enjoy the scenery. Of course, not wanting to pass up this awesome opportunity we said yes (even though I doubted we would stick together in a pack after they saw how slow I was up those hills).


It was a pretty awesome 55 mile experience, which included a traditional pit stop for beer (their tradition, no beer for me), and good stories.

The break was about 10 miles before heading back and splitting off back inside the city. Since it was a good 20 minutes long, after the pit stop, I had a difficult time warming my knees back up and dropped out the back a few times. I thought for sure they’d drop us and head on their way since we were close to home, but they always waited for me, let me pace in the middle of the group, and slowed their avg speed down so I could hang on. The leader of the pack was very concerned and conscientious about my hydration and knee issues (from what I gathered from his partner, he doesn’t often treat many other riders so ‘plushly’) and he hung back with me, filled up my water bottle from his reserve, and while heading into the city, he looked over my positioning and gave me some advice on tweaking my bike fit to feel a little bit better during those windy hauls and climbs.

Best of all, they enjoyed the experience of having a couple others with them, we received a business card, and were asked to give them a call if we ever wanted to do another Sunday ride out there with them, and we were given the location of their infamous Sunday ride starting point if we just wanted to show up some time.

How awesome is that! I’m glad I decided to stick in there and push myself way harder than I normally would have. I had a grand old time, and bonus, might have just found three occasional riding partners instead of just one!

DH and I decided to go on a bit of an adventure today (i.e. riding an area we didn't know very well, and with no real set plan). We drove down to Heber and started from the Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course parking lot (our FAVORITE golf course - the lakes course, that is - because it is so easy to walk, there is always wildlife out, and it is a fun course to play - trust me; if you want to play golf in Northern Utah, you can't miss this course), and rode out to Soldier Hollow (home of the cross-country and biathalon venues for the 2002 Olympics), explored some of the paved bike paths on the cross-country course, and then headed south to SR 189 (I think it was 189).

We turned off on the road to Daniel (established in 1898, so the sign told us, when we got there - again, didn't know where we were going, other than in a general sense, and we were rewarded with quiet roads and nice scenery), and kept going until we crossed I-40, and rode on the east side of Heber, until we hit Center Street, and then tried to work our way back to the golf course.

We got a little lost, but with the help of a local, and a general sense of where we wanted to be, we found our way back through Midway (cute town), and back to the golf course. A hair over 30 miles, and while we climbed 1700 feet, it was pretty much all easy riding. We are going to get a map of the area and plot out some other rides, because this was GORGEOUS!

Of course, it didn't hurt that the weather was perfect (in the 60s when we started, and in the 70s when we finished), clear blue skies, and only a little wind. It was one of those "Wow! Utah is SUCH a beautiful state!" rides.

And after the ride, DH played 9 holes of golf while I caddied (the broken arm, while much better, still keeps me from playing golf - next year the plate will be completely fused, and I'll be able to play with my usual wild abandon). While we were out there, the winds really picked up, and we were thrilled to have gotten off the road earlier! :D

A perfect day, if you ask me.

Tomorrow? We'll see. I'm supposed to learn how to drive a manual transmission. DH was my ski coach long before he was my husband, so him teaching me won't be too much of an issue (rarely is), but I'm not the best driver in the world as it is, so I can't see how complicating me driving is going to be a good thing :eek: :eek: , but if I am going to Autocross the Mini Cooper (a LONG story), I've got to be able to drive a stick. The real question is whether I want to get in to autocross....:eek: :confused:

I went on the Luna Chix ride today up Page Mill and Old La Honda Rd. with CindySue. We started at the Woodside Town Hall, we went over Mtn. Home Road to Sand Hill, Portola, down Alpine & Arastradero to Page Mill. That in itself is a really nice route, very pretty scenery especially along Arastradero.

We then climbed Page Mill Rd. to Skyline, a first for me. That's a tough climb! It's about 8 miles and averaged 7&#37; or so, with some delightful sections of 10-15% :p

Once we all reached the top, we headed north on Skyline to Sky Londa. This was really nice, there were some fabulous views of the East Bay & Mt. Diablo, and we got to enjoy some long, shallow, swoopy downhills. Nice.

We stopped briefly at the zoo that is the corner of Skyline & Rt. 84 to refill our bottles - the motorcyles and the cool vintage cars were out in force today - and then headed down Rt. 84/La Honda Rd. towards Woodside. At the bottom of the descent we hung a right onto Portola, and then proceeded up Old La Honda Rd, another classic climb in the Woodside area.

OLH is about 3 miles or so, with an average grade of 7%, but it doesn't get much steeper than that (except when it does). I started out reasonably OK but faded over the last half. A lot of people time themselves going up OLH, and unfortunately I did so as well. :p A good time is 30 minutes, an excellent time is 25 minutes, and Stud Muffin racer-types go up it in 20 minutes or less. Well, my time was 36 minutes! ptooey! :-p " " Once upon a time I did it in a hair under 32 minutes, and I hope someday to break the ellusive 30 minute barrier, but not today, I wuz whupped.

We rode north again on Skyline (a much shorter distance this time), and down 84 again (whee!), and back into Woodside.

All told it was a bit over 40 miles. My very nifty Bikemaster program shows this route has 4570 ft of climbing, but I'll go with my computer's reading of 4210. Either way, I was *tired* afterwards. :p It was a fun yet challenging ride.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...uff/100607.jpg

Hey V, I'm starting to have second thoughts about Perpetuem as well. I'm not sure if it agrees with me on hard climbs, my stomach felt a bit off. Maybe I consumed too much of it at once? I bought a Polar bottle to keep it cooler, but the downside is the bottle is opaque so it's hard to gauge how much I consume. Well, I'll try it again on Cindy's rideup Mt. Tam next week, and consume it more regularly but in smaller portions. If it still makes me queasy on the hard climbs, it'll get the heave-ho. It seems to work well for me on long rides without a lot of climbing, though. Eh, we'll see.

Oh that's too bad Jo about the Perpetuem. I hope my aversion to electrolytes isn't contagious. :p You know I don't even use Sustain if I'm riding less than 40 miles or so. Yesterday was gatorade and water.

I wouldn't worry about your time up OLH. You climbed up Welch Creek yesterday, which wasn't exactly easy.

V.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zencentury

DP? Digital photographer?
ADA? Americans with disabilties act?

Enlightenment, please.

[EDIT] I got one, the American Diabetes Association

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Digital photog works, but DP=Dear Partner

Rained out yesterday and this morning:( ...decided to go caching instead. Not sure my mind was into a long ride anyway; I'm a little freaked at my heart exam tomorrow morning. Early, tomorrow morning. Like up at 5am-to-be-at-the-hospital-at-7am exam. Sheesh. Can't they schedule the earliest appointments to the patients who live closest?? :mad:
Still..I hope they don't find anything serious.

I put a new chain and cassette on my bike last night.. I did a test ride after yet another church committee and found out I should have read the directions:o . took off some links, and the bike rides much better . yeah!, still not perfect (might have to buy a new chainring too:( )
about 30 miles, temps in 90, nice wind

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Originally Posted by jobob

At the bottom of the descent we hung a right onto Portola, and then proceeded up Old La Honda Rd, another classic climb in the Woodside area.

OLH is about 3 miles or so, with an average grade of 7%, but it doesn't get much steeper than that (except when it does). I started out reasonably OK but faded over the last half. A lot of people time themselves going up OLH, and unfortunately I did so as well. :p A good time is 30 minutes, an excellent time is 25 minutes, and Stud Muffin racer-types go up it in 20 minutes or less. Well, my time was 36 minutes! ptooey! :-p " " Once upon a time I did it in a hair under 32 minutes, and I hope someday to break the ellusive 30 minute barrier, but not today, I wuz whupped.

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Wow, you did Page Mill AND OLH!?!? Nuts. Don't worry, your time up OLH is still faster than me, and that is after you climbed Page Mill also! I am around 40 min right now....I go for slow and steady wins the race :rolleyes:

You really packed in the climbs this weekend!

I was looking at that site you linked to, and it looks like the ride up Old La Honda to the coast and back is just under 40 miles from Woodside...maybe we should plan a TE group ride to do that sometime this summer.

E.

Sara- It is much better, thank you! Maybe it was the free work the LBS did?

MD- That happened to me after a horrendous ride! I went to sign up for a massage and people were signing up for 40-50 minutes. All I needed was a good shoulder rub. :mad: Thank you for riding for Diabetes, my Pawpaw had complications late in his life. I would like to see the disease squashed!

Aw, Ellen, you're so nice. :)

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Originally Posted by PABadger

I was looking at that site you linked to, and it looks like the ride up Old La Honda to the coast and back is just under 40 miles from Woodside...maybe we should plan a TE group ride to do that sometime this summer.

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That would be great. Actually, CindySue was talking about that very same thing today.

It would be fun to go out to the coast, perhaps over to Pescadero (good bakery!) or to San Gregorio (funky general store with all sorts fun stuff, and snax of course).

After a rainy day pn Saturday, we woke up to sun Sunday. My phone rang at 7:45, with my friend asking if we wanted to drive to the south coast of MA/RI and ride. I was surprised, since she rarely awakes before 8 on weekends, while I am up by 6:30 at the latest. So, although we were barely up, we decided to go. I had done this ride once before, on one of my first group rides where I was so nervous, I hardly remembered any of it. We got down there at around 11 and took off from Tiverton, RI high school where we parked. After about 4 miles, my husband and my friend's husband had stopped on a corner to wait for her. She is slow, but not that slow! So, her husband rode back and found that the chain on her new bike (like just got it Thursday) had seized. She got it going and right away my husband diagnosed the problem. The LBS didn't put on a long enough chain, and every time she went into the big ring, boom. We told her just stay in the middle, but it happened two more times during the ride. I feel badly for her, since she has been riding a 10 year old Trek touring bike and she got a nice carbon Giant. Well, despite that, it was a gorgeous day. It's a very rural area, near the coast, with beautiful scenery. We stopped and ate a picnic lunch after about 13 miles. There were lots of casual cyclists out on some type of marked ride and we also saw a lot of serious looking riders. I didn't remember that there was much climbing on this ride, but most of it was a false flat, which was quite deceiving. We thought it would be cooler out, but it got up to about 78. I am fighting a sinus infection and by mile 30 I was ready to be done. The ride was 39 miles and I felt like I had done at least 50. But I wasn't too sick to stop by the Wesport River Winery and pick up 3 bottles of sparkling wine on the way home.
If anyone ever wants some nice coastal riding, without the crowds of the Cape, this is the place. Beautiful views, fairly nice roads, and not too much in the way of hills.